Francis Ritchie

I’m a person who loves the Church (obviously) and I’m also a person who loves the media. I see the media as acting like a prophetic voice in our culture; speaking truth to power, critiquing our failings, celebrating our successes and putting a mirror up to who we are. I also think it’s fair to say that the media is …

The poem I have written here is part of my emotional journey in dealing with the violence of ISIS through the lens of my own faith and my confusion around the whole issue. At the heart of my wrestle here is mercy. The poem is messy, but in it I am processing the contrast between ISIS and my own sense of spirituality …

Today I want to give the floor to T.S. Eliot. It may happen a couple of times during Lent as his poetry is part of my Lenten discipline this year. Eliot has a poem titled Ash Wednesday, but this snippet is the opening stanza in Choruses From ‘The Rock’. It has captured my thinking for this holy day. The Eagle …

I’ve been wary of sharing a response to Stephen Fry’s now famous comments in response to a question asking what he would say to God if he were to meet him at the pearly gates. My reason is partly because I don’t think it was that big a deal. He was asked a hypothetical question about a God he doesn’t …

I haven’t read William Temple’s ‘Christianity and Social Order’ but there are excerpts from it in another book I am reading. Some of his thoughts caught my attention. Firstly he outlines what he thinks should be the Church’s impact on society. First, the Church should make its principles known. Secondly, in relation to society the Church should enable those who …

I glimpse you, but you are hidden Hidden in a lingering mist through which I search Search in a longing for mercy and grace Grace that whispers quietly, unobtrusively Unobtrusively while the chains of demand scream Scream, shout, lie Lie in the face of your truth Truth that calls me beyond Beyond cheap joy that falls short Short of the …